Chinookan peoples

Chinookan peoples are Indigenous peoples whose historic communities lived along the lower Columbia River and nearby Pacific coast, sharing related languages and cultural traditions.

Chinookan languages: A family of Indigenous languages historically spoken along the lower Columbia River and adjacent coast. Related languages connected communities without making them a single political unit.
Columbia River trade network: A network of Indigenous exchange routes linking communities along the Columbia River and its tributaries. Chinookan communities occupied a strategic corridor connecting inland and coastal trade.
Marmes Rockshelter: An archaeological site in southeastern Washington containing evidence of human occupation extending thousands of years into the past. It provides regional context for the antiquity of Indigenous life in the Columbia Basin.
Cowlitz people: An Indigenous people of southwestern Washington whose traditional territory includes the Cowlitz River watershed. Cowlitz communities interacted with Chinookan neighbors but have a distinct history and identity.
Lower Columbia River: The broad lower course of the Columbia River, extending westward through Washington and Oregon to the Pacific Ocean. Its waterways and estuary shaped Chinookan settlement, travel, and exchange.
Celilo Falls: A series of waterfalls and rapids on the Columbia River that was a major Indigenous fishing and trading site. The falls drew Chinookan and neighboring peoples into seasonal exchange and fishing.
Fort Astoria: A fur-trading post established by the Pacific Fur Company at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1811. Its establishment intensified colonial trade and contact in Chinookan homelands.
Clatsop people: A Chinookan people historically based near the mouth of the Columbia River on the Oregon coast. The Clatsop are a specific Chinookan community with a distinct coastal homeland.
Chinook jargon: A trade language that developed in the Pacific Northwest from Indigenous languages and later incorporated English and French elements. It became a regional medium of exchange after sustained contact among Chinookan and other communities.
Chinook salmon: The largest Pacific salmon species, also known as king salmon. Salmon runs supplied food and supported preservation and trade.

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